Spango Dips

Man did I do some strenuous brain calisthenics to arrive at a final version of this one. Extra-strenuous because I’ve been running about a 102˚ fever these last three days. Anyway, these are some serious songs, each of which I strongly recommend seeking out and taking a long bath in if you haven’t already. I’m happy as always to hear feedback in the comments; tell me, in particular, where you disagree. Talking about music is fun because it’s impossible.

1. Radiohead: All I Need
2. Feist: 1234
3. Dirty Projectors: Rise Above
4. LCD Soundsystem: Someone Great
5. Grizzly Bear: He Hit Me
6. Radiohead: House of Cards
7. Animal Collective: Fireworks
8. Jens Lekman: The Opposite of Hallelujah
9. Deerhoof: The Galaxist
10. Battles: Atlas
11. Menomena: Wet and Rusting
12. M.I.A.: Paper Planes
13. Chromatics: In the City
14. Panda Bear: Bros
15. Okkervil River: Savannah Smiles
16. Menomena: Air Aid
17. Radiohead: Reckoner
18. Rihanna feat. Jay-Z: Umbrella
19. Burial: Archangel
20. Animal Collective: Peacebone
21. Band of Horses: No One’s Gonna Love You
22. Deerhoof: +81
23. Dan Deacon: Wham City
24. Spoon: You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
25. M.I.A.: Bird Flu
26. Blitzen Trapper: Wild Mountain Nation
27. Jay-Z feat. Beanie Sigel: Ignorant Shit
28. The Twilight Sad: And She Would Darken the Memory
29. Travis Morrison Hellfighters: I’m Not Supposed to Like You (But)
30. Deerhoof: Believe E.S.P.
31. Kanye West feat. Dwele: Flashing Lights
32. Band of Horses: Is There a Ghost
33. Menomena: My My
34. Deerhoof: The Perfect Me
35. Beirut: In the Mausoleum
36. Dinosaur Jr: Been There All the Time
37. St. Vincent: Now Now
38. Black Kids: Hit the Heartbrakes
39. The National: Mistaken for Strangers
40. Panda Bear: I’m Not
41. Radiohead: Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
42. Caribou: Desiree
43. MGMT: Time to Pretend
44. Okkervil River: Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe
45. Marnie Stern: Every Single Line Means Something
46. Feist: I Feel It All
47. Dinosaur Jr: It’s Me
48. Liars: Houseclouds
49. Arcade Fire: Intervention
50. Battles: Leyendecker

Radiohead and Deerhoof come out on top with four apiece; this ought to leave very little doubt about what my two favorite albums this year were (list to follow soon). I suppose I could’ve limited myself to one or two songs per artist and thus found room to include some real winners from the likes of Black Lips, Rush, King Khan & The Shrines, No Age, of Montreal, and Les Savy Fav, to name a few of the more obvious casualties, but this would’ve been dishonest. I gots to calls ‘em likes I sees ‘ems. And I’m pretty happy with the rankings here! We’ll see how I feel in another few months, but for now I can’t really imagine changing any one of these tracks’ positions.

Also: Oh, hey, Merry Xmas.

During the months of early summer, when the pace of new masterpieces slowed, I found myself inclined like never before to gorge on old ones. Here are the thirty best of the classics to which I was first exposed this past year.

1. This Heat: Deceit
2. R.E.M.: Murmur
3. Blondie: Parallel Lines
4. Van Halen: Van Halen
5. Fela Ransome Kuti & Africa 70: Expensive Shit
6. De La Soul: 3 Feet High and Rising
7. Brian Eno: Another Green World
8. King Crimson: Discipline
9. Miles Davis: A Tribute to Jack Johnson
10. Talk Talk: Laughing Stock
11. The Fall: Hex Enduction Hour
12. Serge Gainsbourg: Histoire de Melody Nelson
13. Brian Eno: Here Come the Warm Jets
14. Kate Bush: The Sensual World
15. Genesis: Duke
16. Guided by Voices: Bee Thousand
17. Young Marble Giants: Colossal Youth
18. Public Image Ltd: Metal Box/Second Edition
19. Devo: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
20. Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures
21. Kraftwerk: Trans-Europe Express
22. Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band: Safe as Milk
23. John Cale: Paris 1919
24. R.E.M.: Reckoning
25. Television Personalities: And Don’t the Kids Just Love It
26. The dB’s: Stands for Decibels
27. Can: Tago Mago
28. The Fall: This Nation’s Saving Grace
29. Fela & Afrika 70: Zombie
30. Can: Future Days

Here’s a new list I’m trying out. Two thousand and seven was the best year of the decade so far for pop music, in my estimation, and no such estimation could have been possible without a whole shitload of great concerts. Here are the sets I feel luckiest to have seen.

1. Dirty Projectors, Satyricon, Portland, OR, September 8
2. Yellow Swans, Audio Cinema (PDXPOPNOW!), Portland, OR, August 5
3. M.I.A., Roseland Theater, Portland, OR, November 15
4. The Hold Steady, Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR, November 5
5. Battles, Hawthorne Theater, Portland, OR, November 2
6. Deerhoof, Wonder Ballroom, Portland, OR, February 3
7. Animal Collective, Roseland Theater, Portland, OR, September 16
8. Menomena, Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR, January 28
9. Copy, Audio Cinema (PDXPOPNOW!), Portland, OR, August 4
10. Rush, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA, July 23
11. Yacht, On a Yacht, Portland, OR, May 5
12. Sonic Youth, Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, July 20
13. Art Brut, Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR, November 5
14. Blitzen Trapper, Pendleton Center for the Arts, Pendleton, OR, September 15
15. Black Elk, Audio Cinema (PDXPOPNOW!), Portland, OR, August 4

The Golden Compass ★★

Perfunctory adaptation of Philip Pullman’s lauded fantasy novel concerning parallel universes, in which children disappear, and polar bears fight duels, and people have animal companions called dæmons which are externalizations of their souls, and also there are witches. So determined is writer-director Weitz to honor the book’s every plot point that he can only spend about a minute and a half on each one, so as a result the pace is exhausting while the story remains murky (if I hadn’t read the book, I’m quite sure I would’ve been utterly lost). Equally damning is the relentless, ham-fisted exposition in the first act, which goes violently against the slow elegance with which the book reveals the depth of its world. Points, however, for a strong second act, for which all thanks go to Sam Elliott.

(2007-US-Great Britain) C-113m. D: Chris Weitz. W: Chris Weitz. DP: Henry Braham. NICOLE KIDMAN, DANIEL CRAIG, DAKOTA BLUE RICHARDS, EVA GREEN, SAM ELLIOTT, JIM CARTER, TOM COURTENAY, BEN WALKER, CHRISTOPHER LEE, VOICES OF FREDDIE HIGHMORE, IAN MCKELLEN, IAN MCSHANE, KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS. Super 35. [PG-13]

I’m Not There ★★★

High-concept biopic, in which six actors (Blanchett, Whishaw, Bale, Gere, Franklin, Ledger) portray different aspects of Bob Dylan’s personality, each one fashioned into its own mini-story. Surprisingly entertaining, given its potential for pretension and its running time, with arresting performances and wonderful use of Dylan’s original music only enhancing director Haynes’ usual dexterity. This is one of those rare films that’s so bloody visionary that it makes you love its failures as much as its successes.

(2007-US-Germany) C/B&W-135m. D: Todd Haynes. W: Todd Haynes and Oren Moverman. DP: Edward Lachman. CATE BLANCHETT, BEN WHISHAW, CHRISTIAN BALE, RICHARD GERE, MARCUS CARL FRANKLIN, HEATH LEDGER, CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG, JULIANNE MOORE, BRUCE GREENWOOD, DAVID CROSS, MICHELLE WILLIAMS, VOICE OF KRIS KRISTOFFERSON. Super 35. [R]

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead ★½

Preposterous story about two feckless brothers (Hoffman, Hawke) plotting to rob their own parents’ jewelry store to appease the ballbusting women in their miserable lives. The plot is absurd, the characterizations are pathetically by-the-numbers, the performances are maladroit, and Lumet, of all directors, is asleep at the wheel. Speaking of Lumet: he defended this movie all over town by labeling it a “melodrama,” as if the designation excuses everyone doing a terrible job.

(2007) C-117m. D: Sidney Lumet. W: Kelly Masterson. DP: Ron Fortunato. PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, ETHAN HAWKE, ALBERT FINNEY, MARISA TOMEI, ROSEMARY HARRIS. [R]

Juno ★★★½

Immensely moving comedy about a 16-year-old girl (Page), pregnant from a sexual encounter with a friend (Cera), who decides to have the baby and put it up for adoption. Matters get more complicated when she forms a personal bond with the adoptive parents (Garner, Bateman). Has its quirkier-than-thou moments, but a gigantic heart and pitch-perfect performances keep it soaring above the usual indie dross. If there’s a more appealing young actress than Ellen Page, I haven’t seen her.

(2007) C-92m. D: Jason Reitman. W: Diablo Cody. DP: Eric Steelberg. ELLEN PAGE, MICHAEL CERA, JENNIFER GARNER, JASON BATEMAN, ALLISON JANNEY, J.K. SIMMONS, OLIVIA THIRLBY, EILEEN PEDDE, RAINN WILSON. [PG-13]

No Country for Old Men ★★★★

The Coen Brothers’ first-ever literary adaptation is their finest film in a decade, spinning Cormac McCarthy’s novel into an utterly spellbinding death march through West Texas. McCarthy’s themes, and very often his actual words, resonate as powerfully onscreen as on the page, and the film simultaneously delivers the Coens’ trademark mix of violence, nihilism, poignancy, suspense, and humor as effortlessly as ever. A stunning achievement.

(2007) C-122m. D: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen. W: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. DP: Roger Deakins. TOMMY LEE JONES, JAVIER BARDEM, JOSH BROLIN, WOODY HARRELSON, KELLY MACDONALD, GARRET DILLAHUNT, TESS HARPER, BARRY CORBIN, STEPHEN ROOT, RODGER BOYCE, BETH GRANT. Super 35. [R]

3:10 to Yuma ★★½

Remake of 1957 Glenn Ford movie about a desperate rancher (Bale) agreeing to risky job of transporting an apprehended murderer (Crowe) across the state of Arizona to titular prison train. Hits only a few notes and hits them hard and frequently—yay, masculinity!—and consequently much of it is pedestrian and predictable, but the climactic shoot-out is one of the better set pieces in recent memory, and the performances are beyond what the script deserves. Originally from an Elmore Leonard short story.

(2007) C-117m. D: James Mangold. W: Halstead Welles, Michael Brandt and Derek Haas. DP: Phedon Papamichael. RUSSELL CROWE, CHRISTIAN BALE, LOGAN LERMAN, DALLAS ROBERTS, BEN FOSTER, PETER FONDA, VINESSA SHAW, ALAN TUDYK, LUCE RAINS, GRETCHEN MOL. Super 35. [R]

Hey zero readers,

I am in possession of an all-or-nothing personality, meaning that in my personal affairs there appear to be no options between the extremes of commitment to perfection and total rejection. That is, If I’m going to do it at all, I’m going to sweat every detail. Nothing irks me more than being forced into a position (usually as the result of time constraints) where I have to do something half-heartedly; it always seems like a weak-tea compromise. As a result, I have done a few small things in my life of which I’m immensely proud, and have let a hundred times as many potential things die in preproduction because I felt I couldn’t do them as well as they deserved to be done.

This may shed some light on my long absence from posting. I think I’m capable of recognizing now that this measly blog doesn’t have to reflect every facet of my personality, that it doesn’t have to be brilliant, and that it shouldn’t be a chore to maintain. So I hope to develop a more relaxed attitude toward the practice of blogging, and in so doing become once again a semi-regular presence on the bustling pages of pers.picacio.us.

Where to begin, I don’t know. Writing movie reviews was, for me, probably the most enjoyable and least stressful way to contribute to the blogosphere, so I think I’ll restart that engine. With the end of 2007 somehow horribly fast approaching, I’ll be starting to think about best-of lists, so the timing’s certainly right. I know I was also once talking about album reviews, and I gave it a try in private, but I think I lack the focus to evaluate albums in the form of a monologue. Somehow they always seem too broad and too rich to distill into a single paragraph. No album is one thing (except maybe Weezer’s Make Believe). Songs, however, are a different story; more often than not, they are one thing. And if the task of the critic is to name that thing, then I can whip up a paragraph about a song lickety-split. I was thinking I could try letter grades for song reviews, but that’s so condescending. And the Pitchfork scale of 0.0-10.0 seems simply too big. Maybe I can just stick with stars; although it’s customary for music reviews to go to 5 stars rather than the 4 that’s more common for movies. Cripes, maybe I should just abandon the whole th—NO! I will figure this out. My ratings scale for songs doesn’t have to be perfect, it doesn’t have to be “personal.” It can just work.

I’ll get back to you.